Paper short abstract:

Engaging with sport in any form involves allocating time as well as embracing smaller and larger patterns of mobility by participants, whether athletes, coaches and/or fans. This paper elucidates factors that shape the pacing of mobility for individuals involved in amateur and professional sport.

Paper long abstract:

Engaging with sport, whether as an athlete, coach, or fan, entails not only allocating time but also undertaking journeys of varying frequency, duration and cost. Getting to and from sporting events, whether routine and local or more celebrated but further away, is an oft-overlooked aspect of participation in this field. The strategic timetabling and distribution of such events by sport authorities effectively issues mobilization orders that others, who wish to be part of this field, are expected to heed. This paper examines instances and modes of mobility that reflect not merely the types of arrangements specified in official sport programmes but also some of the tactical means employed by those who, though they do not determine these schedules and destinations, nonetheless seek to finesse and bend sport journeys to serve their own purposes. These processes are illuminated by reference to two ethnographic settings that reveal a variety of tactical initiatives with respect to sport mobility. The first examines formal and informal negotiation of travel schedules established for child and youth athletes and parents by community sport organizations in Canada. How and to what ends do athletes and parents navigate exhausting and expensive travel regimes designed by sport officials to 'achieve excellence?' The second setting discusses how sporting events structure the everyday lives of football supporters who may often plan the year ahead economically and logistically in accordance with fixture lists. How are often long, time-consuming and costly travels to away games negotiated with family, friends, and employers?